


Resolute

by Ithuriel



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Depression, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, References to Depression, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26866099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithuriel/pseuds/Ithuriel
Summary: Carlos gets put into a tourney player-infested workshop class and is forced to meet Jay, a fellow student.
Relationships: Jay/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	Resolute

Carlos tinkered with the grainy, wooden blocks at his bench. He didn’t expect one of his electives to be workshop, and he couldn’t deny his disappointment this morning. Workshop was taught by Coach and was filled with tourney jocks from all grades, and Carlos had had enough of both freshman year. His years of distain for the class and those in it blinded him from what it was; a free space to build – far from home. Carlos could tuck himself in the corner of the classroom and build something without being in a decomposing tree house, never knowing if it was the day it would fall, or worrying about making too much noise.

“Whatcha making?”

Carlos was pulled out of his rhythm and looked up. A boy, with dark long hair, a varsity jacket, and the crookedest grin Carlos had seen stood in front of his bench. Carlos recognized the tourney player; he’d seen him vocal at pep rallies like they were concerts, and in yearbooks with MVP trophies. Carlos never learned the boy’s name.

He looked at the tourney player for a moment, then leaned to the side. As he expected, a group of tourney players were watching the interaction from the other side of the class. Carlos didn’t care for pranks. “Please leave me alone,” Carlos muttered, going back to his blocks.

“Boo, you’re being dry,” the boy said. He removed his hands from his jacket pockets and played with Carlos’s supplies.

Carlos tried to ignore the jock, but he grew more annoyed at every clank. Finally, Carlos took the blocks from the boy. “I’m doing the assignment, unlike you.”

“Really? This is amazing,” the boy said, swiping Carlos’s assignment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone take the assignment this seriously.” There was no malice in the action, and he had genuine appreciation for Carlos’s work, but knowing his tourney friends were watching only ticked Carlos off.

Carlos stood, took his blocks back, and moved benches.

~

“Whatcha doin’?”

Carlos didn’t look up, and instead focused the head of his hammer on the nail, not wanting to bend it. “The assignment.”

“Huh,” the dark-haired boy said. Carlos felt him leave, only for him to return moments later with his own assignment. He sat on Carlos’s bench. “You know, we never traded names.”

Carlos didn’t bother moving benches. He had learned he would be followed more times than there were empty seats. “I’m Carlos.”

“I’m Jay with a Y,” Jay said knocking his elbow against Carlos’s. A few encouraging hollers came from Jay’s tourney mates across the class.

Carlos burned with embarrassment. He hated being involved in jokes, especially ones he didn’t know about. As nonchalantly as he could, he said “Cool.”

“Does this mean we’re friends?”

Carlos narrowed his eyes and looked at Jay for the first time today. Jay’s hair was up in a bun, his jacket was folded on the bench, and his hands were doing nonsense with his hammer and nails. He was grinning at Carlos ear to ear and winked.

Carlos got his embarrassment under control. “No.”

~

“Partner up, boys. Get your assignments done today, or you’ll get late points over the weekend.” Coach clapped his hands in command, dispersing the class.

Carlos had already started on his assignment. He stopped waiting for partners after being the odd one out too many times in the past. This didn’t deter Jay, who sat next to him at the bench. “Hey Carlos.”

Screwing a pivot into a block, Carlos ignored the greeting and moved the instruction sheet between them so they both could access it.

“Are we having a happy day?” Jay asked, his grin leaking into his voice.

“Nope.” Carlos used a pencil and ruler to mark the block.

“Wanna talk about it?” Jay dragged his words as a kindergarten teacher would to a child, making the question light but still providing an opening to answer. His tone was no longer giddy, and Carlos couldn’t tell if the concern was real or not. The tourney team’s glances hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Stop,” Carlos said. It came off colder than he meant, but his shoulders dropped in relief when Jay didn’t probe. They finished the assignment before the bell, and Carlos got to dissociate on the bus ride home in peace, ignoring the dread for what was waiting.

~

“Psst…”

“Stop.”

“Psst…”

“Leave me alone.”

Jay softly poked Carlos in the side. When a poke hit one of Carlos’s fractured ribs, he suppressed a white-hot wince and raised his head, looking at Jay. “What?”

Jay used the tip of his eraser to slide a folded scrap of notebook paper in front of Carlos, all while grinning. Carlos rolled his eyes, but unfolded it.

_You look cute today_

Carlos didn’t bother to blink the bags from his eyes or fix the hair under his hoodie, which was the only thing keeping the school from seeing his bruises and screwing up his life with reports that would lead to nothing but punishment. His eyes shifted from Jay to the bench across the class, where the tourney team was looking at him yet again.

“Are you happy yet?” Jay asked giddily. He bumped his elbow against Carlos to get the white-haired boy’s attention again.

Carlos sighed, crumbled the note, and set it on the bench before laying his head back down. “I’m not in the mood for this.”

~

The bell’s ringing snapped Carlos out of his unintentional nap. Coach placed an overturned paper on Carlos’s desk and shook his head in disappointment before moving on. Tentatively, Carlos flipped the paper. He didn’t know how, but his mood somehow dropped further. The red F slid into his bag, and he stood to go catch his bus.

It was difficult to find Carlos in the crowd, who has been wearing the same black hoodie for a week, but Jay managed. When he caught up, he matched Carlos’s pace and knocked elbows to let Carlos know it was him.

“Whatcha doin’ tonight?” Jay asked.

“I’m busy.”

Despite being shot down, Jay persisted. With his ever-present grin and a bit of hopefulness, he put an arm around Carlos’s shoulders. “Wanna hang?”

“No.” Carlos shoved the arm away and boarded his bus, refusing to look back to see Jay standing by the door, crest fallen.

~

“Hey Carlos, how are we today?” Jay asked, folding his jacket on the bench and taking his seat by the sleep-deprived boy.

Carlos yawned, forgetting his daily glare directed at the jock. “I’m tired.”

“Hi tired, I’m Jay!”

“Shut up,” Carlos deadpanned. Jay along with a few people around them laughed at the dad joke, and it almost made Carlos’s lips twitch.

After workshop, Carlos was depleted. The school’s coffee barely got him through the morning, but that lackluster energy was gone now. He only felt mild relief walking into the library with an apple and water bottle. He would force himself to eat and drink a little before sleeping. Hopefully the bell would wake him up today.

A sudden wave of cheering startled Carlos. The entire tourney team was waiting for him, and on top of a table was Jay.

“I know I’m asking five months early,” Jay announced, earning him more encouraging cheers, “But Carlos, will you go to prom with me?”

Carlos was shocked. He could see the room; every tourney player staring at him, the library regulars annoyed and wanting the commotion to be done already, even the librarian clasping her hands in anticipation. But he was seeing this all from a detached perspective. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t feel. Was this the prank Jay had been waiting to execute, in front of his teammates? Carlos didn’t know. He felt one leg move behind the other, then another, and he was no longer in the library.

The room fell into tense silence. Jay got off the table. After a few minutes, he rolled up his promposal poster and left it in a trash can.

~

For the first time, Carlos finished his workshop assignment before class was halfway done. Jay had done his part efficiently, and they were now sitting in silence. Carlos glanced at Jay, who leaned on an elbow and fiddled with a pencil. He had been silent the entire morning, and Carlos had yet to see him smile.

“You’re not talking…” Carlos observed. Jay shrugged.

Carlos looked at the tourney team’s bench, but none of them were looking back. Now that Carlos was aware, the class was quieter than usual, with only a bit of chatter and whispers. He turned back to Jay. “Are you okay?”

“Since when did you care?”

The bell rang not long after, and Jay was the first one out of the class.

~

“Alright boys, I want all your assignments done today. I’d hate to give you homework over the holidays,” Coach said. The class was covered in mistletoe and wreaths, and Coach even had a pair of antlers on. The class dispersed into excited chatter.

Carlos was done with everything, and he knew Jay was as well. The tourney player was a lot more productive when he wasn’t talking.

“Hey, um…” Carlos began. He pulled his hood back and fiddled with the drawstrings, trying to gain a bit of courage. “How are you doing?”

Jay, resting his head in his arms, didn’t answer.

“If… if you want–”

“Leave me alone.” Jay muttered.

Carlos, without any courage left, let his words die off. When he looked around, he caught the tourney team glaring at him. Carlos tugged his hood back on and scooted away from Jay.

Crowds filled the hallways and courtyard at the final bell. Everybody rushed to their cars or buses, eager to get home and start their holiday break. Carlos, despite the risk of missing the bus, went the opposite direction and found Jay at a locker.

“Hey Jay… um… what are you doing over break?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jay answered. He closed his locker, and Carlos finally got a clear look at him. Jay’s hair didn’t look brushed, the crinkles by his eyes from smiling were missing, and he just looked down, despite being surrounded by holiday fever. He was looking at Carlos for the first time in a while.

“I’m usually alone Christmas day,” Carlos admitted, shuffling slightly. He cleared his throat and continued after an awkward pause. “And I heard from Chad that you live in a group home and that you don’t like being there, so if you want to come over or something–”

“I’ll pass.”

The words hit Carlos in his chest, and he suddenly felt too hot in his hoodie and winter wear. “Okay,” he said, looking down. He couldn’t look at Jay anymore. He backed up and pushed some hair behind his ear. As he turned to leave, he muttered “I’m sorry.”

~

For the only time of the year, Hell Hall was quiet. Carlos closed and locked the door behind him. He didn’t need to scramble to the kitchen to check if there were dishes, nor did he have to scrub any ash flung into the carpet from the night before. His mother was spending the holiday in London, as she did every year. Without him.

Carlos let himself fall on his bed. He didn’t take his shoes off, and he didn’t try to get comfortable. He just let himself go.

As light receded, Carlos began to shift. He had grown too cold, despite still being in his coat and boots. His mother shuts the utilities off when she goes on holiday, so Carlos would need to start the fireplace soon.

He took his coat off and retrieved a folded scrap of paper from the pocket.

_You look cute today_

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Carlos said, barely a whisper. A single, cold tear hit the paper.

~

Carlos was on his third bowl of cereal. It wasn’t fancy, but it was his favorite meal of the year. He could wrap himself in blankets next to the fireplace and eat the cereal without being yelled at, or worse.

Snow drifted past Hell Hall’s windows, and Carlos enjoyed the same podcast he listened to every year from his mp3. If the device wasn’t spotty with the sound, he wouldn’t have heard the knocks at Hell Hall’s door.

Years ago, Carlos would have been excited. The extended family used to mail him a gift or two, but that stopped years ago. Instead, Carlos stood from his blanket pile and approached the door tentatively.

“Can I help…” Carlos asked. His words died off and his eyes widened.

Jay stood outside in what could barely be called a coat under his varsity jacket, and all he had on was a beanie and ratty gloves in the falling snow. One hand was buried, shivering in his pocket, and the other held out a small present box. “Merry Christmas.”

Carlos matched Jay’s smile and pulled him inside. He took the present, not being able to stop his eyes from tearing up, and Jay looked around the foyer smiling. “Are we having a happy day?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by a video series made by @william.papa18 (instagram)/@the_universal_papa (TikTok).


End file.
